Cultivator tooth



July 29, 1924. F V 1,502,832

C. D. KIRTLAN CULTIVATOR TOOTH Filed April 4. 1923' 4 INVENTOR. D.Kalil/6L1? ATTORNEY Patented July 29, 1924.

UNITED STATES CLARENCE D. KIRTLAN, OF VISALIA, CALIFORNIA.

conrrvs'cron TooTH.

Application fil ed April 4, 1923. Serial No. 629,798.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, CLARENCE l). KlRT- LAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Visalia, county of Tulare, State of California, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cultivator Teeth; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to thecharacters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisapplication.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of agriculturalimplementsknown as cultivators, and particularly to the construction andmounting of the teeth; the principal idea being to provide teeth sodesigned and mounted that they are especially adapted for cultivation inrocky ground, without any chance of bending or breaking the teeth orstandards if rocks and the like are encountered which offer greatresistance to the forward movement of the cultivator.

I have also provided that any tooth may be easily removed and replacedby another when necessary, without disassembling the entire structure.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensivedevice and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposesfor which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

On the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of acultivator, showing a set of my improvedtooth units mounted thereon.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of one of the tooth units, in normalposition.

Fig. 3 is a similar view, showing the tooth as mounted when striking arelatively immovable obstruction.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the numeral 1 denotes the main longitudinal and transverselyspaced frames of a cultivator, mounted on wheels 2 in the usual manner.

Resting on the frames 1 and bolted thereto are transverse andlongitudinally spaced beams 8, which form the supporting means for myimproved tooth units, of which there are any desired number. Since theseunits are independent members but duplicates of each other, it will ofcourse only be neces sary to describe one of the same.

.Each unit the-n consists of a pair of. short and transversely spacedbars or frames 4, secured to and under the beams 3, and extendingparallel to the frames 1, or longitudinally of the cultivator. Betweenthe beams 3 and' l a rigid tooth 5, substantially vertical, extends,which is pivoted on the bars 4 as at6. I

On the lower and forward end of the tooth is a removablewearing strip orsaddle 7, held in place by a U-clamp 8. V

Brackets 9 are pivotally mounted at the upper end of the teeth, in whichare adjustably mounted links 10, one on each side of extend to the toothon each side thereof, and are pivotally-and slidably mounted thereto bymeans of a bolt or pin 12 in the tooth passing through longitudinalslots 13 in the bars 11.

Pivotally mounted in connection with the bars 4 to the rear of theconnection of the tooth therewith are straps 14:, which straddle thebars 11 and are pivoted on and between the links 10 intermediate theends thereof, and preferably just a short distance above the pivotalconnection of the bars 11 therewith. A stiff helical compression spring15 surrounds the bars 11, and extends between the tooth and the straps14, bearing plates 16 being provided at the ends of the spring betweenthe same and the members 5 and 14, the latter at this point'beingsubstantially parallel to the tooth, so as to form a good bearingsurface for the adjacent plate. The normal tension of the spring may beregulated by adjusting the nuts 10 of the links 10. I

In operation, the rear edge of the tooth aboveits pivot 6 normally bearsagainst the adjacentbeam 3, preventing forward and upward movement ofthe lower end of the tooth,the strength of the spring 15, which tends topull the upper end of the spring back, being sufficient to hold thetooth in the above stated position when the latter is working ingroundwhich offers only a normalresistance to its passage therethrough.

When a rock or the like is encountered however, the tooth is tiltedforwardly, and the spring is gradually compressed, increasing theresistance offered by the tooth but at the same time ,causing itkto bemoved into sucha :position that it isenabled to 2111018 readily clearthe obstruction, even though it may raise the main frame land rear whee]2 off the ground While so doing. The time ible connections between thetooth, {spring and other members causes the spring to be brought intofunction smoothly andwithout any shock being imparted to the tooth orframes. It'also enables the spring to be compressed in a direct linewith its axis-at all stages since the strapsl remain substantially atright angles to the tooth a t-all times.

To'remove any tooth, it is only necessary to withdraw the bolts 6, 1'2and the one which holds the bracket 9, when the toothmay-be Withdrawn ina vertical direction.

Each tooth unit on the cultivatorbeing independent of the other, eachwill of course function independent of the other.

From the foregoing description it willbe readily seen that 'I haveproduced suclra device-as substantially fulfills the objects'of theinventionas set forth herein.

While this -speci-fication-sets forth in detail the present andpreferred construction'of the device, still in practice suchdeviationsfroin such detail may be resorted to as do notiforni a departure fromthe spirit of the appended claims. 7

xHaving thusdescribed myinventiom-what 1' c1&im.-=-as new, and usefuhandfdesireto secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A cultivator. tooth structure including a supporting frame, a toothpivoted therein for limited fore and aft swinging movement,

straps pivoted on the frame to the rear of thetooth pivotand extendingupwardly in spaced relation to the tooth, links between 4 the upper endsof the straps and teeth and pivotally connected to both, and a helicalspring'between the'straps and tooth and arrangedfor compression when theupper portion of 1 the tooth moves forwardly.

A- cult-ivator tooth structure including a supporting frame, a toothpivoted therein therewith andeXtend-iug to slidable connec-" tionsWiththe-tootlnend a helical compres- S1011 spring about the bars andhearing at one end against thetooth-an'dat the other end against thestraps.

"In testimony whereof l aifixmysignature.

'cLaR-ENoE D. 'KIRTLAN.

